Apparatus for uniting flooring blocks or the like into a unit

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for flexibly uniting four parquet wood flooring blocks into a rectangular unit used to form a plurality of generally parallel reaches therebetween, which reaches are laterally advanced to form the weft sheet, and wherein the continuous thread is wound about the support members from guide means moving in a generally elliptical path around the members.

March 14, 1972 c, T|BBAL5 3,649,410

FLOORING BLOCKS OR THE LIKE INTO A UNIT APPARATUS FOR UNITING Filed May 2, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 QED ATTORNEYS H. c. TIBBALS 3,649,410

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 14, 1972 APPARAT s FOR unnxs FLOORING BLOCKS OR THE LIKE INTO A UNIT Filed May 2, 1969 DRIVE MAIN "4 m SOURCE A07 CLUTCH March 14, 1972 H. c. TIBBALS 3,649,410

APPARATUS FOR UNITING FLOORING BLOCKS OR THE LIKE INTO A UNIT Filed May 2, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet s March 14, 1972 c, TIBBALS 3,649,410

APPARATUS FOR UNITING FLOORING BLOCKS OR THE LIKE INTO A UNIT Filed May 2, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

so 5 up I .60

United States Patent O 3,649,410 APPARATUS FOR UNITING FLOORING BLOCKS OR THE LIKE INTO A UNIT Howard C. Tibbals, P.O. Drawer A. Oneida, Tenn. 37841 Filed May 2, 1969, Ser. No. 828,079

Int. Cl. 1505c 7/00 US. Cl. 156390 25 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Method and apparatus for flexibly uniting four parquet wood flooring blocks into a rectangular unit used to facilitate installation of the blocks on a floor, wherein the floor blocks, having tongues and grooves, are arranged into a rectangular configuration on a conveyer which conveys the blocks to a first glueing station where a hot melt adhesive is applied to a first pair of tongues aligned along the axis of the conveyer path. Prior to application of the adhesive, the. blocks are tented upwardly to expose the tongues for receiving the adhesive without allowing the adhesive to flow into the associated grooves. This tenting is accomplished by a raised bed portion on the conveyer which receives the lower surfaces of the blocks; cooperable guide rails along the sides of the conveyer which engage the outer side edges of the blocks, and overlying hold down members which engage the upwardly disposed block surfaces to maintain the blocks downwardly in the proper tented position. After the blocks leave the glueing station, the bed of the conveyer increases in angularity so that the blocks are lowered towards a coplanar position which causes the previously exposed tongues with the adhesive, to enter their associated grooves while still preventing the adhesive from entering into the bottom of the grooves. The adhesive is allowed to cool as the blocks continue to be conveyed in this second slightly angular position, maintained by hold down members and guide rails. At the end of the cooling phase, the blocks are discharged in a vertical hopper from which they are moved in a second direction perpendicular to the first conveyed path by a second conveyer during which the process is repeated with respect to a second pair of aligned tongues which extend perpendicular to the first pair. After the second pair of tongues are flexibly attached in their corresponding grooves, the block unit passes to an applicator which applies a common layer of cellular foam to the four upwardly disposed surfaces of the blocks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS This invention relates to a method and apparatus for flexibly uniting multiple, planar, construction elements having tongues and grooves, into a unit wherein the elements extend generally in coplanar relationship. The present invention is particularly suitable for producing the multiple, parquet, floor block units disclosed in my copending US. patent application, Ser. No. 777,070 entitled Wood Parquet Block Flooring Unit, filed Nov. 19, 1968. Such units are employed to facilitate installation of the blocks on a floor by allowing a plurality of the individual blocks to be laid simultaneously rather than individually as has been conventional practice in the past.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a new method and apparatus for flexibly uniting tongue and groove construction elements such as flooring blocks. Included herein is the provision of a method and apparatus for producing wood parquet flooring block units such as disclosed in my copending US. patent application identified above.

3,649,410 Patented Mar. 14, 1972 A further object is to provide such a method and apparatus for forming a multiple block unit in which there is a predetermined clearance between the individual blocks in the unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for forming the aforedescribed flooring block unit in such a manner whereby, after the unit is installed on the floor, the flexible interconnection between individual blocks in the unit may be easily severed during use of the floor and without creating any squeaking, cracking or other undesirable sounds.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming such multiple block units in a highly etficient manner suitable for mass production.

The above and other objects are achieved with parquet wood flooring blocks each having elongated tongues and grooves on their mutually adjoining side edges, by placing flooring blocks on the inlet end of a horizontal conveyer with the blocks being arranged generally in parquet fashion and with their unfinished surfaces (bottom faces) facing upwardly. As the blocks are conveyed they initially pass a camming station at which the blocks are moved laterally inwardly to mate the two pairs of tongues and grooves which extend generally along the axis of the conveyer. It is preferred that the two remaining pairs of tongues and grooves, which extend perpendicular to the path of conveyance, also be. mated at this stage; this may be done in any suitable manner either prior to or during placement of the blocks on the conveyer.

As the blocks continue to move in this condition, they pass over a peaked bed portion of the conveyer which raises the blocks into an angular, tented condition wherein the blocks slope downwardly towards the opposite sides of the conveyer from high points located along the tongues and grooves. In this tented condition, the blocks are maintained against lateral outward movement by guide rails extending along opposite sides of the conveyer into engagement with the outer longitudinal edges of the blocks. Additionally, hold down members are provided to engage the upwardly disposed surfaces of the blocks to apply appropriate downward pressure on the blocks. The purpose of the tented positioning of the blocks is to withdraw the tongues which were previously mated at the camming station, to expose the tongues for receiving adhesive in a predetermined position wherein the outer longitudinal edges of the tongues abut longitudinal portions of the adjacent blocks at the mouth of their associated grooves. This prevents any substantial flow of adhesive into the bottom of the grooves.

Conveyance of the blocks in the tented condition is continued until they reach a glueing station wherein a pair of applicators successively apply a flexible, non-brittle, adhesive head in melted state to the exposed surfaces of the tongues respectively. Although the exposed surfaces of the tongues which receive the adhesive, face upwardly as they are processed on the conveyer, it will be appreciated that when installed on the floor, these surfaces will constitute the lower horizontal surfaces of the tongues. To insure that the hot melt adhesive will penetrate the grain of the wood, the tongues are preferably preheated, however the heating is limited so as not to char the wood.

After the unit of blocks emerges from the glueing station, it passes over a second bed portion of the conveyer which is peaked at a lesser angle (the sloped bed surfaces extend at a greater angle to each other) which causes the blocks to move downwardly towards the conveyer bed to a second angular position just short of placing the blocks in coplanar relationship. This causes the tongues previously applied with the adhesive, to return into their corresponding grooves with the outer longitudinal edges of the tongues sliding against the overlying surface portions of the grooves so as to continue to prevent the adhesive from flowing into the bottom of the grooves. As before, similar guide rails and hold down members are applied to the blocks to maintain them in the second angular relationship during which the blocks are permitted to cool. To accelerate the cooling, an air jet may be applied along the glue line between the blocks, if desired.

At the outlet of the conveyer a second conveyer is provided to transfer the unit to a vertical guide chute which directs the units to a third conveyer for movement in a direction perpendicular to the first direction. Du ring movement on the third conveyer the same glueing process is repeated with respect to the second pair of tongues and grooves which extend perpendicular to the tongues and grooves previously mated and glued. At the outlet end of the third conveyer, the blocks then pass to a foam applicating station where a common layer of cellular foam is applied to the upwardly disposed faces of the blocks in each unit, these faces being the unfinished faces which will engage the floor when the unit is installed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the associated drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view in schematic of apparatus embodying the invention for joining flooring blocks into a unit in accordance with the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom, perspective view of a flooring block unit assembled in accordance with the invention by the apparatus in FIG. 1 and with bottom layer portion on the unit being broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmental cross sectional view of the unit taken generally along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross sectional view taken generally along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1 illustrating the position of blocks in the unit at a certain point in the processing on the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a fragmental view of a block unit as it is being conveyed through the apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a glue applicating system incorporated in the apparatus for applying adhesive beads to the block units;

FIG. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view illustrating two blocks in a unit in tented condition for receiving an adhesive bead in accordance with the method of the present invention;

RIG. 8 is a view generally similar to FIG. 7 but illus trating the blocks in a mated position just short of being coplanar;

BIG. 9 is an elevational view of a device for preheating portions of the blocks in the units prior to application of the adhesive;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 10-10 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a fragmental, elevational view taken generally along lines 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 12-12 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an elevational view taken generally along lines 13-13 of FIG. 1 illustrating an overhead conveyer for transferring block units between two processing conveyers included in the apparatus at right angles to each other; and

FIG. 14 is a fragmental, cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a chute employed to transfer the block units between the two processing conveyers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Product Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 apparatus embodying the invention for producing flooring block units generally designated 1.0;

one such unit 10 being shown in FIG. 2 as including four, square, parquet Wood flooring blocks 12 interconnected by mating tongues 14 and grooves 16 and adhesive beads 17 extending continuously in lower portions of the tongue and groove joints as will be further described. The unfinished surfaces 18 of the blocks are covered with a common layer of cellular sheet foam 20 of polyethylene for example, which is bonded to the blocks. In one commercial form the opposite surfaces 21 of the blocks are preferably finished, and the joints between the blocks adjacent finished surfaces 21, are formed with a predetermined clearance, 0, approximately 0.015 inch as shown in FIG. 3. The individual blocks 12 in this commercial form are six inch squares each assembled from a plurality of slats 22 held together by thin gauge wires 24. Additionally, each block has two pairs of tongues and grooves extending longitudinally in opposite side edges of the blocks such that a parquet arrangement may be achieved when assembling the blocks. Further details as to the structure, dimensions, functionality and production of the blocks 12 per se as well as the units 10 may be obtained from my copending US. application identified above as well as the other patents cited therein; it being understood that the disclosures of the aforementioned application and patents, where applicable, are hereby incorporated into the present application.

The individual blocks 12 are flexibly held together in each unit 10 by means of the adhesive beads 17 for the purpose of allowing the four blocks to be laid simultaneously as a unit when installing a floor. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention the adhesive beads 17 are applied only to the lower overlying surfaces 14a and 16a of the tongues and grooves respectively as shown in FIG. 3. In this manner the individual blocks have the desired clearance, c, along the upper portions of the groove as described above and are also sufficiently flexible relative to each other to conform to any surface irregularities When laid. For the latter reason, the adhesive head is made from a flexible, non-brittle, rubbery material which will permit the individual blocks 12 in each unit to move relative to each other in conforming to the surface on which they are laid and without producing any undesirable sounds. Once the blocks 12 of the units 10 are permanently installed in forming a floor, the adhesive head 17 may sever as the blocks adjust relative to each other to the underlying surface.

Method The method for flexibly uniting the individual blocks 12 in each unit 10 by applying the adhesive head 17 is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. Prior to application of the adhesive 17, adjacent individual blocks are turned upside down, that is, with their unfinished surfaces 18 facing upwardly and with their finished surfaces 21 facing downwardly. The individual blocks 12 are then placed at an angle to each other with the longitudinal outer edge 14]) of the tongue engaging a longitudinal line on the adjacent block adjacent the mouth of groove 16 as illustrated in FIG. 7. In this tented or peaked condition of the blocks 12, the adhesive bead 17 is then applied in a hot melt state longitudinally in a continuous line on the upper surface 14a of the tongue. Because of the abutting or substantially abutting engagement between the longitudinal edge 14b of the tongue and the adjacent line along the mouth of the groove, the surface 161; of the block containing the groove forms a dam or barrier preventing the adhesive from flowing into the groove 16.

After the adhesive head 17 is applied as described above, the individual blocks 12 are then moved downwardly towards a coplanar position in which however the blocks 12 are still at an angle to each other as illustrated in FIG. 8. In undergoing this latter movement, the blocks 12 pivot about their line of contact designated 30 in FIG. 8 so that tongue 14 enters into the associated groove 16 and causes portions of the adhesive head 17 to move into the groove between surfaces 14a, and 16a of the tongue and groove respectively. However because of the dimensioning of the tongue and groove, the outer longitudinal edge 14b of the tongue slides along the surface 16a of the groove during pivoting of the blocks 12 to the position shown in FIG. 8. This latter cooperation, while allowing the hot melt adhesive 17, to be pushed along in front of the groove continues however to prevent the adhesive from entering into the bottom of the groove. In this manner, a controlled application of the adhesive is achieved which will provide the desired results as indicated above and in my copending application. Additionally, the foregoing method causes the adhesive bead 17 to be squeezed between the overlying surfaces 14a and 16a of the tongue and groove to provide an effective glue joint.

After the blocks 12 are moved into the position shown in FIG. 8, they are permitted to cool while in this slightly tented position. To facilitate cooling, an air jet may be applied to the adhesive. Additionally, to insure that the adhesive will penetrate the grain of the wood, surface portion 14a of the tongue may be preheated to a degree which will allow penetration but not char the wood.

In applying the aforedescribed method to the particular unit shown in FIG. 2, two pairs of blocks are mated by interfitting, without adhesive, two sets of tongues and grooves which extend generally in one direction, and then the remaining two sets of tongues and grooves are mated and bonded with adhesive beads 17 as described above along a glue line which extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the initially mated tongues and grooves. After the adhesive cools, the initially mated tongue and grooves are then bonded by adhesive bead 17 in the same manner described above. The foregoing will become more apparent from the description below of apparatus embodying another aspect of the invention which may be employed to unite blocks 12 into unit 10.

Apparatus Referring now to FIGS. 1, 10 and 11 apparatus for flexibly uniting four individual flooring blocks 12 into a unit 10 such as shown in FIG. 2 includes a first horizontal conveyer generally designated 40 including a fiat lower bed portion 42 extending in a horizontal plane in the conveyer path and supported on a suitable frame not shown. Above lower bed 42 are longitudinally spaced upper bed portions 44, 46, 48 which sequentially receive the flooring blocks at different elevations during processing before and immediately after the glueing operation as will be further described below. Blocks 12 are moved along the upper bed portions by means of endless chains 50 which move horizontally in vertical planes through elongated slots 52 in the upper bed portions. A plurality of pushers or lugs 54 are secured to the chains at longitudinally spaced locations thereon to be engageable with the trailing edges of blocks 12 to move the blocks over the beds during processing. Drive chains 50 are driven by a suitable motor and gear transmission not shown.

At the inlet end 56 of the conveyer, four blocks 12 are arranged on bed 44 in coplanar and parquet relationship with their unfinished surfaces 18 facing upwardly and their lower, finished surfaces 21 engaging bed 44 which extends in a fiat horizontal plane. At this initial stage or prior to placement on the conveyer, the two sets of tongues and grooves, generally designated TGl in FIG. 1, which extend perpendicular to the conveyer path are mated without adhesive. The remaining two sets of tongues and grooves, designated TG2 in FIG. 1, which extend in the direction of the conveyer path are separated by a horizontal rail or bar 58 extending generally over the longitudinal center of the conveyer and suitably fixed over bed 44. The outer edges of blocks 12 are engaged by longitudinally extending guide rails 60 secured to the conveyer frame.

As the four blocks are conveyed in the aforedescribed relationship by the conveyer they reach a station where the inner surfaces 64 of guide rails 60 converge inwardly towards the center of the conveyer path. Additionally at this area, separator rail 58 terminates so that as the blocks are conveyed they are forced laterally inwardly by the inner surfaces 64 of guide rails 60. This causes the tongues of set TG2 to move into their respective grooves. Thus at this point in the processing, all four sets of tongues and grooves are mated but without adhesive. To insure proper mating of the tongues and grooves in the foregoing manner while they are being moved by the conveyer, overlying elongated hold down members 66 are supported from the conveyer frame to engage the upwardly facing surfaces 18 of the blocks to apply sufficient downward pressure on the blocks for maintaining them in proper position on the con-veyer bed.

Continued movement of the assembled blocks 12 by the conveyer brings the blocks to an adhesive or glue applicating station 70 where adhesive beads 17 are applied to the tongues in set TG2 along a glue line generally designated 72 and in accordance with the method described above in connection with FIG. 7. Prior to reaching glue applicating station 70, the blocks on opposite sides of the glue line 72 are moved at an angle to each other to place them in a tented or peaked condition generally shown in FIGS. 4 and 10 (corresponding to FIG. 7) to expose the upwardly disposed surfaces 14a of the tongues in sets TG2 for receiving adhesive beads 17. This is accomplished on the conveyer by raised bed portion 45 situated along a conveyer segment which extends through the glue applicating station '70. Raised bed portion 46 is characterized by downwardly and laterally outwardly sloping surfaces as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 10. This movement is also brought about through guide rails 60 along the sides of the conveyer which engage the outer edges of the blocks to insure that they remain in the proper position. In addition, hold down members generally designated 78 are suitably supported from the conveyer frame to engage the upwardly disposed surfaces 18 of the blocks to insure that the blocks rest squarely on raised bed portions 46.

In the specific embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 hold down members 78 are comprised of a plurality of rollers 80 mounted on the ends of levers 82 which are pivoted at -84 to elongated stationary mounting members 86 which overlie the conveyer bed and extend longitudinally thereof. Mounting members 86 may be supported in any suitable manner such as by posts 88 on the opposite sides of the conveyer and cantilevers 90 interconnecting the posts and mounting members 36. Rollers 80 are resiliently urged into engagement with blocks 12 by means of leaf springs 92 mounted generally at their centers to member 86 with their opposite ends engaging plungers 94 which extend downwardly into engagment with levers 82.

When the blocks are conveyed over raised bed portions 46, the previously mated tongues 14 of sets TG2 which extend along the glue line 72 are caused to withdraw from their grooves and into the position shown generally in FIGS. 4 and 10 which correspond to FIG. 7. Having been tented as described above, blocks 12 are now ready for the application of adhesive beads 17 to the exposed surfaces 14a of the tongues as the conveyer moves the blocks through the glue applicating station 70.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, adhesive beads 17 are introduced on the tongues by means of two applicators generally designated 100, 102 each including a nozzle 104 operated between closed and open positions by means of an air cylinder 106 suitably supported above the conveyer bed through brackets 108. As shown in 'FIG. 6, the hot melt adhesive is fed from a source 107 to nozzles 102 by an inlet line 110 and two branch lines 112 communicating with the nozzles respectively. Adhesive is forced to flow through lines 110, 112 by means of a pump 114 driven by a variable speed motor 116 through a clutch 118. Nozzles 102 are closed and opened through needle valves located therein respectively and being operable by air cylinders 106 respectively. A pair of solenoid operated valves 120 is provided to control the flow of air into air cylinders 106 and thereby control operation of the needle valves in the applicator nozzles 102. Solenoid operated valves 120 are controlled through switches 122 which in turn are operated by rotary cams 124 mounted on a shaft 126 to be driven from the main drive of the conveyer generally indicated 128 in FIG. 6.

Cams 124 are rotated in proper timed sequence so that the adhesive is applied from the two applicators successively, one applicator applying adhesive on one of the tongues of set TG2 and the other applicator on the other tongue of set TG2 as the blocks are conveyed below the applicators. To provide even distribution of the glue so that surges will not result due to a buildup in pressure between pump 114 and nozzles 102, clutch 118 is energized through means of a second lobe 130 formed on one of cams 124 to actuate clutch switch 133 such that motor 116 will be interconnected to pump 114 to initiate the flow of adhesive at the proper time.

Two adhesive or glue applicators 100, 102 situated at an angle to glue line 72 are employed in the preferred embodiment as described because the tongues in set TG2 lie on opposite sides of glue line 72 at an angle to each other. This together with the axial spacing of the nozzles 102 along the glue line as indicated in FIG. 5, insures effective application of the adhesive beads on the tongues. Thus in operation, one nozzle 102 will apply an adhesive head 17 to the first tongue of set TG2 that passes through the station 70, the initiation and termination of this application being controlled in the proper time sequence by one of cams 124. After the latter tongue is applied with an adhesive bead, the second applicator will be operated to apply an adhesive bead 17 to the second tongue which passes through the applicating station. the latter operation also being controlled in the proper time sequence through the other cam 124.

To insure the adhesive will penetrate the grain of the wood and not cool merely on the surface, it is preferred that the exposed tongue surfaces be slightly preheated prior to application of the adhesive. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, this is achieved through a burner arrangement disclosed in FIG. 9 as including an elongated flame discharge tube 149 such as may be formed by A2 of an inch copper tubing, which is mounted in any suitable manner to extend over glue line 72. At one end of tube 140 there is provided a burner 142 such as a gas propane burner while in the tube at longitudinally spaced locations are formed a plurality of apertures 144 for discharging a flame 146 along glue line 72 on the exposed surfaces of the tongues. The other end 148 of tube 140, which is shown as extending vertically relative to the main tube portion, is adapted to be opened and closed by a cap or valve 151 member. Cap 15-1 is movable between a closed position closing the end of the tube as shown in FIG. 9 and an open position opening the end of the tube. Actuation of cap 151 is achieved through a suitable motor such as an air cylinder 152 which may be supplied from a suitable source (not shown) the glue applicator nozzles.

When the conveyor 40 is operating, cap 151 is closed and the burner operates to produce a flame through the tube 140, the flame will be discharged downwardly through apertures 144 and long the glue line to preheat the wood to a slight degree necessary for causing penetration of the adhesive into the grain of the wood but not to cause charring of the wood. When conveyor 40 is stopped, air cylinder 152 is actuated, through any control mechanism (not shown) to move cap 151 away from the end of tube portion 148 to open the end of the tube. This causes the flame to bypass apertures 144 and to be admitted from the upper end of the tube. When conveyer starts again, cylinder 152 is again actuated to close the upper end of tube 140 and again initiate the preheating operation along the glue line 72.

As the blocks emerge from glue applicating station 70, they are brought by the conveyer into a cooling area gen= erally designated in FIG. 1 at which area the conveyer bed changes such that it is peaked to a lesser degree as indicated in FIG. 12 by the bed 48 the sloping surfaces of which extend at a greater angle with respect to each other than the previously raised bed portion 46; this section 48 of the conveyer bed thus causes the blocks to move towards a coplanar position with the tongues being reinserted into their grooves as described above in connection with FIG. 8. However at this point, the blocks still extend at a slight angle to the horizontal as indicated in FIG. 12. In one embodiment, this angle is such that the center of the blocks generally along the glue line is approximately of an inch higher than the outside edges of the blocks.

As the blocks are conveyed in this second angular relationship through the cooling area 150, they are maintained on the conveyer bed portions 48 by means of hold down members which first are the roller type 78 described above and then subsequently a finger type hold down generally designated such as illustrated in FIG. 12. The finger type hold down may be comprised of a plurality of transversely extending fingers 162 which engage the upwardly disposed surfaces of the blocks. Fingers 162 are suspended from longitudinally extending mounting members 164 overlying the conveyer bed and being in turn supported from transversely extending arms 166 supported on vertical posts 168. Additionally, during the cooling phase of the blocks, their outer edges continue to be guided by rails as illustrated in FIG. 12.

If it is desired to accelerate cooling of the adhesive, an air jet 170 may be suitably mounted above the conveyer to direct a cooling jet of air along the glue line 72 as shown in FIG. 12.

Referring to FIGS. 1, l3 and 14, when the blocks approach the outlet end of conveyer 40, the adhesive has sufiiciently cooled. The blocks are then removed from the outlet end of conveyer 40 by means of another horizontal conveyer generally designated 174 which takes the blocks to a vertical chute generally designated 176. Conveyer 174 is of the overhead type and may have any suitable construction which includes a stationary horizontal support surface 178 extending between conveyer 40 and hopper 176 as shown in FIG. 13. A pair of overhead drive chains 180 are trained side by side about sprockets 181, 181a to move horizontally in vertical planes above the blocks. Sprockets 181, 181a are suitably mounted from an overhead fixed support 182. Pushers or driving lugs 184 are secured to chains 180 at longitudinally spaced locations so that as the unit of blocks passes onto the stationary support surface 178 from conveyer 40, lugs 184 Will engage the trailing edges of the block units to move them along stationary support surface 178 towards chute 176. In addition, the forward edges of the block units will be engaged against lugs so that the block units are held under clamping action between successive pairs of lugs. In this manner the units are held in a horizontal plane after they have left conveyer surface 17 8 and are aligned over chute 17 6. Release of the block units to allow them to be dropped into the chute 176 is achieved by a bar fixed at one end to the side of chute '176 and projecting upwardly at an incline to engage above the blocks and force them downwardly into chute 176. As shown in FIG. 14, bar 195 is positioned to extend inwardly between drive chains 180 of conveyer 174.

Inasmuch as the outer tongues in each of the block units are staggered such that the outline of the unit is irregular, the side walls 176a are each formed in two sections offset from each other in two different vertical planes by a shoulder 17612 as shown in FIG. 15. Thus the shape of the side walls 176a conforms to the outline of the block unit to insure that the latter will be guided downwardly through the chute in the desired horizontal plane, for proper positioning on bed 192 of conveyer 190.

Chute 176 overlies the inlet of a third conveyer generally designated 190 which is similar to conveyer 40 but extends perpendicular thereto as shown in FIG. 1. The inlet bed 192 of the conveyer 190 underlies the bottom end surface of chute 176 and the opposite side walls 176a of chute 176 extend upwardly from the bed of conveyer 190 to maintain the block units in proper horizontal position as they fall through the chute from overhead conveyer 174.

After a block unit drops through chute 176 and reaches the bed 192 of conveyer 190, the lugs on drive chains 194 of conveyer 190 (which chains are similar to those of conveyer 40 described above) engage the trailing edges of the block unit to move it along the bed. At this point however the bed 192 of conveyer 190 is tented to the same degree as bed portion 46 (corresponding to FIG. 7) of conveyer 40 so that as the block units emerge from chute 176 they are in a tented condition to expose the other pair of tongues which are included in set TGl for receiving adhesive beads 17 along a second glue line 199 which is perpendicular to the first glue line 72 described above. The blocks are then conveyed to a second glue applicator generally designated 200 which applies the glue along second glue line 199 to the second pair of tongues. The conveyer bed under the second glue applicator 200 is angled to the same degree as the bed 192 at the inlet of conveyer 190. Glue applicator is identical to applicator 70 described above.

The block units are then conveyed to a second cooling area 204 wherein the tongues which have just been applied with the adhesive beads are inserted into their associated grooves through a raised bed portion identical in shape to bed portion 48 of conveyer 40 and located along the cooling area of conveyer 190. Hold down members similar to the roller type 78 and finger type 160 described above, are also employed during this cooling phase.

After the block units leave the cooling area 204 on conveyer 190, they pass to a foam applicator station 210 wherein the layer 20 of sheet cellular foam is applied to the upwardly disposed surfaces 18 of the blocks in each unit. The foam is applied by bonding it to the surfaces 18 of the blocks. After the units leave foam applicating station 210, they pass to a packaging station.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for assembling blocks having a complementary tongue and groove; the apparatus comprising in combination, means for positioning the blocks at an angle to each other and With the tongue of one block situated closely adjacent and generally coextensive With the groove in the other block, means for applying an adhesive to exposed surface portions of the tongue, and means for moving the blocks relative to each other towards a coplanar position for positioning the tongue in the groove while forcing the adhesive between said surface portions of the tongue and an overlying surface portion of the groove.

2. Apparatus defined in claim 1 employed for assembling blocks having generally planar surfaces extending in planes overlying the plane of said surface portions of the tongue, the apparatus further including, means for applying a common layer of cellular foam to said surfaces of the blocks after the adhesive is applied and the blocks are moved relative to each other to position the tongue in the groove.

3. Apparatus defined in claim 1 employed for assembling wood blocks having tongues and grooves and employing an adhesive which is initially applied in hot melt form, the apparatus further including, means for preheating the upper surface portion of the tongue prior to application of the adhesive thereon to insure that the adhesive will penetrate into the grain of the wood.

4. Apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said means for initially positioning the blocks at an angle to each other also positions an outer longitudinal edge of the tongue in general engagement with portions of the adjacent block adjacent the mouth of the groove to prevent 10 any substantial flow of the adhesive into the groove when the blocks are in said first position.

5. Apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein said means for moving the blocks relative to each other towards a coplanar position is effective to move said outer longitudinal edge of the tongue along the overlying surface of the groove to prevent the adhesive from flowing into the bottom of the groove.

6. Apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said means for positioning the blocks at an angle to each other includes a horizontal conveyer having raised bed portions which receive the blocks to peak the same upwardly at said angle, and guide means for maintaining the blocks peaked at said angle.

7. Apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said guide means includes elongated members on opposite sides of the conveyer extending along the path of conveyance to be engageable with the opposite outer side edges of the blocks.

8. Apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein said guide means further includes hold down members overlying the conveyer to 'be engageable with upwardly disposed surface portions of the blocks to maintain the same on the raised bed portions of the conveyer in peaked condition at said angle.

9. Apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said conveyer includes a stationary bed including said raised bed portions extending in the direction of conveyance for receiving the blocks, said bed having longitudinally extending parallel slots, and pushers movable in said slots to be engageable with the rear edges of the blocks to convey the same along the bed.

10. Apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said conveyer has a second raised bed portion spaced from the first raised bed portion in the forward direction of conveyance, said second raised bed portion being included in said means for moving the blocks relative to each other towards a coplanar position to position the tongue in the groove.

11. Apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said conveyer has horizontal bed portions situated in the path of conveyance before said raised bed portion for receiving the blocks in coplanar relationship with the tongue facing the groove, and guide means for moving the blocks laterally inwardly to insert the tongue in the groove, said raised bed portions serving to remove the tongue from the groove while placing the blocks at said angle.

12. Apparatus for flexiby uniting at least four rectangular flooring blocks or similar elements into a rectangular unit wherein the blocks each having a tongue and groove on mutually perpendicular edges which are mated with corresponding tongues and grooves on adjacent blocks; the apparatus comprising in combination, means for assembling the blocks in generally coplanar relationship into a unit of generally rectangular configuration wherein a first pair of tongues of two blocks respectively are generally longitudinally aligned in one direction and a second pair of tongues on the remaining two blocks respectively are generally longitudinally aligned in asecond direction extending perpendicular to said first direction, a first glueing station having means for applying adhesive to the tongues at the station, means for moving the unit in said first direction to the first glueing station for applying adhesive to said first pair of tongues, means for mating said first pair of tongues with their respective grooves in adjacent blocks after adhesive is applied thereto at said first glueing station, a second glueing station having means for applying adhesive to the second pair of tongues, means for moving the unit along said second direction to said second glueing station for applying adhesive to said second pair of tongues, and means for mating said second pair of tongues with their respective grooves after adhesive is applied thereto.

13. Apparatus defined in claim 12 further including in combination, means spaced from said second glueing 1 1 station along said second direction for applying a common layer of cellular foam to the assembled unit with the layer covering four surfaces of the blocks in the unit.

14. Apparatus defined in claim 12 further including first and second means at said first and second glueing stations for tenting the blocks upwardly along the glue lines for exposing the tongues for receiving adhesive.

15. Apparatus defined in claim 14 wherein said first and second means for tenting the blocks upwardly further position the outermost longitudinal edges of the tongues adjacent the mouths of the associated grooves to prevent the adhesive from flowing into the grooves when applied to the tongues.

16. Apparatus defined in claim 14 further including first and second means spaced from said first and second glueing stations along said first and second directions respectively for moving the blocks from the tented positions towards coplanar positions for inserting the tongues into their associated grooves after the adhesive is applied.

17. Apparatus defined in claim 16 wherein said last defined first and second means causes the tongues to slide along overlying surface portions of the associated grooves as the tongues are being inserted for preventing the adhesive from flowing into the bottom of the grooves.

18. Apparatus defined in claim 14 wherein said means for moving the blocks along said first and second directions includes a first conveyer extending in said first direction and a second conveyer extending in said second direction, said conveyers having stationery support beds which receive the faces of the blocks and means for moving the blocks over the support beds, and wherein said first and second means for tenting the blocks upwardly and said first and second means for moving the blocks to wards a coplanar position include raised portions of the beds of said first and second conveyers and guide means for maintaining the blocks properly positioned on the said raised positions.

19. Apparatus defined in claim 18 further including a vertical hopper situated at the outlet of the first conveyer and at the inlet of the second conveyer to receive units of the blocks from the first conveyer for transfer to the second conveyer.

20. Apparatus defined in claim 12 wherein said means for applying adhesive at said first and second glueing station each includes two adhesive applicators closely spaced along the path of conveyance, one applicator serving to apply adhesive to one of the tongues of the pair and the other applicator serving to apply adhesive to the other tongue of the pair,

21. Apparatus for flexibly uniting at least four rectangular blocks into a unit comprised of at least four wooden blocks, the apparatus comprising in combination, a first conveyer means for conveying the blocks, means for arranging four of said blocks generally at one end of said conveyer means to form a generally rectangular composite arrangement with internally positioned edge portions of the blocks forming first and second sets of juxtaposed edges, respectively, crossing each other at generally right angles, first glue applicator means situated over said first conveyer means for applying a hot melt glue along one of said sets of juxtaposed edges as the blocks are conveyed, a second conveyer means extending generally at right angles to said first conveyer means adjacent the discharge end of said first conveyer means for receiving the blocks therefrom, and second hot melt glue applicator means situated over said second conveyer means for applying hot melt glue along said second set of juxtaposed edges as the blocks are conveyed by said second conveyer means.

22. Apparatus defined in claim 21 further including first and second means on said first and second conveyer means respectively, for moving the blocks on opposite sides of said first and second sets of edges into a tented position for exposing said first and second sets of edges for facilitating receipt of glue.

23. Apparatus for flexibly uniting at least two blocks each having at least one generally straight edge, the apparatus comprising in combination; a conveyer means for conveying the blocks along a predetermined path, glue applicator means positioned above the conveyer means and having a discharge nozzle facing downwardly towards the conveyer path, means located in advance of said glue applicator means for arranging the blocks on the conveyer means in generally coplanar relationship and with their straight edges mutually facing each other in close generally parallel relationship and in general alignment with the nozzle in the direction of said path such that said straight edges will pass below said nozzle for receiving glue, means for driving the conveyer for moving said blocks below and past said nozzle for receiving glue, and means for maintaining the blocks in said glue receiving position until the 'blocks pass said glue applicator means.

24. Apparatus defined in claim 23 further including means on said conveyer means for positioning the blocks in a slightly tented position extending at an obtuse angle with respect to each other to expose said straight edges thereof for facilitating receipt of the glue.

25. Apparatus defined in claim 24 further including means on said conveyer means for moving the blocks from their tented position towards a coplanar position after they pass said glue applicator means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1960 Bright 15'6293 X 1/1962 sOlson 15*6293 X 

